(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to reinforcing the edges of a fabric panel. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method of coating the edges of a release liner fabric to prevent raveling or fraying during cutting and subsequent use.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
Woven fabrics that are made from thermoplastic yarns tend to disassemble along the cut edge when cut and subsequently handled. This disassembly occurs as the result of the untangling of the warp and weft yarns and is commonly known as raveling.
Raveling significantly reduces the efficiency of subsequent article handling operations such as winding and unwinding and shipping and seriously reduces the strength of the fabric at its edges. Release liners fabricated from fabrics with edges having untangled warp and weft yarns tend to pull apart when stressed during handling. This phenomenon is generally referred to as raveling. When this deficiency, particularly in strength, occurs in release liners for shipping rolled rubber sheeting for use in manufacturing tires, unacceptable damage to the release liner causes shorten life of the liner and possible contamination of the rolled rubber sheeting.
Various physical procedures have been proposed and adopted to prevent edge raveling. These include fusing the warp and weft yarns along the cut edge by various means during the cutting process. Processes known to be commonly used in this regard are based on hot-die slitting and laser cutting methods. Generally, these methods are unacceptably slow or add significant costs to the production of the finished article.
Fabric typically used for release liners in shipping rolls of calendared rubber sheeting for manufacturing tires for automobiles and other vehicles must satisfy a number of unique and demanding requirements. Fabrics that are useful for release liner construction are required to be strong, lightweight, resistant to abrasion and have good release from the rubber stock.
Typically, conventional release liners meeting the above objectives are made of coated fabrics like siloxane-coated nylon or acrylic-coated polyester. In either case, the release liner fabric panel requires fabric edge reinforcement to provide longer service life.